On April 1, after the emergency assembly of the various units, the 20 Corps basically arrived at their respective offensive preparations.

Zhang Wei and his independent company had just completed the construction of the fortifications and were on guard in place.

The troops of the 23rd Regiment and the 4th Division had already begun preparations for the attack, and in the area north of Lanling Town on the front, part of the 21st Wing of the Japanese Army, had set up positions at Nanqiao and Fengluo.

And these two locations are exactly what must be taken before the counteroffensive, and the prelude to the counteroffensive of the 4th Division must start from these two places. The Japanese troops stationed in Lanling were about one squadron, and there was also a squadron in the Nanqiao position on the periphery, and the Japanese army liked to use the squadron as the basic unit for sweeping and attacking and defending.

Chen Daqing ordered: 12 regiments of the 24 brigade to attack Fengluo, and 23 regiments to attack Nanqiao. Outside the South Bridge, there was an abandoned dock fort, and Squadron Leader Jin Tian stood on the low wall of the city wall, looking around, and these days, there were already traces of Chinese troops outside, and there were more and more of them.

The soldiers were holding 38 rifles, standing on the wall of the city wall, there was a guard squad sent outside, and in the Nanqiao Fort, there was also a 92 infantry artillery group, ready to be on standby.

Zhang Wei, on his side, volunteered to undertake the reconnaissance mission, and at this moment he was crawling along the low land with the four platoon commanders and the search squad, from the place of attack to the South Bridge, a distance of nearly a thousand meters.

Moreover, they were all plains, and obstacles and weeds along the way were cleared by the Japanese army in order to clear the shooting boundary.

"Company commander, this devil is well guarded enough." Hao Zhong said. Zhang Wei looked at the South Bridge and the Japanese soldiers looming outside, and felt that it was difficult to fight.

According to the size of the dock fort and intelligence, the Japanese army in it is the size of a squadron, and the problem is that the firepower configuration and allocation of the Japanese army are not clear at all.

"The Japanese can't see the machine-gun fire point at all." Xu Yi said.

Qiu Wei put down the things in his hand and said, "It's all hiding behind the broken wall battlement, and you can't see it with a telescope."

"Withdraw." In the face of the Japanese machine-gun fire blockade, Zhang Wei decided to return first. Looking at the clean flat ground and obstacles around me, I am afraid that I will never be able to go back.

The group retreated along the original road and returned to the position, Zhang Wei went directly to find Chen Chunyi, who was organizing troops to defend in the new regimental headquarters and preparing to attack.

After Zhang Wei came in, he reported the situation directly to him. "Commander Chen, the Japanese are hiding in the dock fort, there are people on the city wall, the specific defense and configuration, I can't see it clearly, the surrounding shooting boundaries have all been cleared, and I am afraid that I am not going to die."

"Isn't it just a dock fort, brothers shoulder to shoulder, let's take it down directly." A big man with Kong Wu next to him said, this is the commander of the third battalion. "No, the casualties are not small, what should I do when I counterattack with such a fight!"

Chen Chunyi stopped the reckless behavior of the third battalion commander. The deputy head of the regiment on the side thought about it and put forward a compromise proposal.

"Let's send troops to attack twice first, anyway, it's just a fort, and it's just that little devil who is dead inside, so let's fight slowly." "Take it slowly, the general attack order is estimated to come down in the next two days, the devils on the periphery are finished, and Lanling's, the troops of the 52nd Army are also starting to prepare, you must hurry up!" Chen Chunyi scolded.

No concealment, few troops, plains, perhaps, can be earthwork! Zhang Wei came up with a relatively safe method, earthwork, a time-honored method of warfare, which can be described as enduring and extremely useful against enemy troops in fortresses and important fortified positions, and can reduce his own casualties.

"Commander Chen, we might as well do earthwork and march in the way of digging trenches, it just so happens that the soil is relatively loose, we dig desperately, and when we reach a certain distance, we will start attacking the dock fort." Chen Chun's eyes lit up, geoworker!

Then his expression became suspicious again, there are a lot of recruits in the 23rd Regiment, and I am afraid that I will have to pay a lot of price to carry out this kind of life-threatening work.

Zhang Wei saw Chen Chunyi's dilemma, this kind of work, no one wants to be blocked by the corpses of recruits, let alone killed by fearful recruits, so Zhang Wei naturally undertook this kind of task.

"Commander Chen, leave it to our company, our company has more experience, just let the other brothers prepare to take a break." Zhang Wei took the initiative to undertake the task, but there was another meaning in his words, that is, when he got to a place where he could only die, he would take people to fill the battle, and don't take Zhang Wei's company to top.

As soon as Zhang Wei said this, Chen Chunyi also understood in his heart that Zhang Wei, a kid, is righteous and benevolent, but he also has his own little tricks and calculations, in short, he is shrewd enough.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you, I'll get you some shovels and pickaxes and dustpans for earth, and in addition, in order to cooperate with you, I'll let them launch a feint to attract the attention of the Japanese army."

Feint, Zhang Wei forgot about this stubble, if he didn't feint, he would be a local rat in broad daylight, and sooner or later he would become a dead rat.

It's still not old and spicy enough. He led his troops along the dug trench to continue to break through, when he was a hundred meters away from the dock fort, although it was a dangerous distance, but he must not go any further, he must break through at this time to launch an attack, directly take the gate of the dock fort, and also need fire cover when attacking!

If only there were mortars. "Commander Chen, do we have mortars on hand now, when we touch the past and launch an assault, we must have fire cover, and we also have to deal with the gate of the dock fort." "Mortars, yes, Company Commander Wu, transfer two mortars you replenished."

Chen Chunyi said to a short officer, who did not reply, but only nodded in agreement.

"Sir, two mortars are too big to carry, one is enough, not to mention that we still have some grenadiers in our hands, just one mortar and twenty shells." Chen Chun nodded.

"Okay, I'll let them send it to you later." "Sir, I'll go down first!" Zhang Wei walked out of the regiment headquarters and rushed to the position of the independent company, and the soldiers were very tired after a long journey, and they all lay on the ground, enjoying a rare rest. Zhang Wei didn't want to disturb them, but cautiously kicked the four platoon commanders and Dong Erli awake.

The four of them got out of their sleepy-eyed state, and they all knew that Zhang Wei must have come to study the battle, and immediately raised their spirits. "Everyone, in half an hour, wake everyone up, prepare to dig a trench, and some other troops will launch a feint to cover us and attract the attention of the enemy. When the lurking reached a safe distance, the trench began to be dug, and the troops advanced in the trench, all the way, all the way to a hundred meters from the dock fort, and when digging, be careful, do not lift the soil out, and use the dustpan to pass back little by little. ”

"Understood, company commander." Zhang Wei looked at Dong Erli: "Someone will send mortars and 20 shells in a while, and then you will take it all the way to the earthwork, and when you reach a hundred meters, listen to my order to fire, and then we will charge, and break this dock fort for me in one fell swoop, as long as we succeed, those feint troops will turn into a real attack, and when the time comes, the devils in this dock fort will not be enough to stuff our Chinese soldiers!" ”

"Yes!"